Tag Archives: Bernie Ecclestone

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has predicted that Sebastian Vettel will win next year’s world championship.

In an interview with German magazine Bild (they’re doing well for F1 news recently aren’t they?), he said that: “There are several – [Lewis] Hamilton, [Fernando] Alonso… But I will say this now: Vettel will be the next world champion.”

Also, he said that he was relishing the prospect of one generation against the next, as 41-year-old Schumacher faes the likes of 22-year-old Vettel. “Without a doubt, the young ones will want to beat him,” said Ecclestone. “He will make sure of that. That’s the appeal of all of this.”

Furthermore, he agrees with a lot of people -including me- when he predicts that F1 2010 will be an epic season. Although he’s wrong when it comes to Vettel, it’s going to be Alonso in my opinion!

The Italian magazine Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed that there is a deal in place for a Rome Grand Prix from 2012 onwards.

It is reported that the organiser, Maurizio Flammini, has signed a provisional deal with Bernie Ecclestone. The first reports of this Grand Prix emerging were earlier this year.

This is continuing on Formula 1’s growth of new circuits: Valencia and Singapore in 2008, Abu Dhabi in 2009, South Korea for 2010 and India in 2011.

However, at time of writing this article, it must be noted that the circuit’s website (http://www.romaformulafuturo.com) has gone blank. Also, there is no info from their Twitter feed (thanks to F1Fanatic for this info).

The British Grand Prix will stay at Silverstone, as part of a 17-year contract that was agreed this weekend.

This agreement came after Donnington Park failed to raise the funds for a development project on the circuit. Therefore, Silverstone will continue to host the British Grand Prix, with a Moto GP event joining it next year.

Work on a new paddock and pit will begin after Christmas, and should be completed for the 2011 race. Also, the owners are looking at using the “Arena” circuit for next year. This design has already been submitted for homologation to the FIA. Details of the “Arena” circuit can be found here:

Renault has 2 main bidders to take control of its Formula 1 team. David Richards’ Prodrive faces competition from Luxembourg investment fund Genii Capital.

Renault’s executive committee met in Paris yeaterday to discuss the future of the team, before a decisive board meeting next week. It is understood that no formal decisions were made in the meeting, but the executives are edging towards which bid they wish to go for.

This was first reported by the French newspaper Le Parisien this morning, and has been confirmed by sources close to the deal.

Genii Capital’s plan is being run by businessman Gerard Lopez. Their plan is to run the team as Renault for the next two seasons. 75 to 100% of the team will be bought under this plan.

There are a few reasons why Genii Capital’s plan is being favoured – but mostly because it has the backing of Bernie Ecclestone. The executives seem to prefer Genii Capital, but management are more inclined towards Prodrive.

When asked about this, Bernie Ecclestone answered: “We’ve got to get the whole Renault thing sorted out. We are in the middle of doing it now. I feel confident that we’ll see Renault next year in Formula 1 under the name Renault and the year after and the year after that.”